Bio

Ethan Herschenfeld made his Metropolitan Opera debut in 2014 as the Murderer in Macbeth, and has appeared in recent seasons in the opera houses of Madrid, Venice, Versailles, Turin, Basel, Genova, Bari, Berlin, Dresden, Stuttgart, Tel Aviv, Hong Kong, San Francisco, and San Diego in roles ranging from Fafner and Gurnemanz to Mefistopheles and Sparafucile. His TV works includes mostly bad guys on Damages, Girls, Boardwalk Empire, Blue Bloods, Unforgettable, Forever, High Maintenance, and upcoming on Power.

Ethan Herschenfeld played Pinky Rabinowitz on Boardwalk Empire (HBO), Adeem Koroush on Girls (HBO), Anton Petrov on Blue Bloods (CBS), Agim Dervishi on Unforgettable (CBS), Eliot Tolken on Damages (FX), and Acid Head in the film It’s Kind of a Funny Story. He made his Metropolitan Opera debut as the Murderer in Macbeth. In recent seasons he made his Semperoper Dresden debut as Cardinal Brogni in La Juive, and his Teatro Real Madrid debut as Aguirre and HogBoy in the world premier of Wuorinen’s Brokeback Mountain a performance for which critics praised his “dark, sculpted tone” (The Telegraph) and his “imposing stage presence and basso profondo” (Opera News). He sang his first Baron Ochs in Indiana, Gurnemanz (Parsifal) in Basel, Fafner and Hunding in Wagner’s Ring in Bari, King Marke (Tristan) in Turin, Judge Turpin (“exceptional”) in the Italian premier of Sweeney Todd in Bologna, Commendatore in Versailles (“big black bass voice”) Mephistopheles (Faust) in Hong Kong, Rocco (Fidelio) in Bolzano, Ravenna, and Tel Aviv, Sparafucile in Lugo di Ravenna, Tel Aviv and Philadelphia, and Kommissarius (Rosenkavalier) under the baton of Fabio Luisi in Genoa, where he also made his Italian debut in Billy Budd. L’Opera praised his “elegant singing” in Lugo calling him “an intense Sparafucile, rich with a beautiful deep vocal timber and discrete phrasing.” He has sung Sarastro in Venice, Berlin, Stuttgart, Rome, Liege and Bremen where he also sang Zaccarias (Nabucco), Osmin (“a true creature of the stage.”), and the Kardinal (Rienzi) directed by Katharina Wagner. In the US he has sung Don Fernando (Fidelio), Commendatore (“an awesome presence.”), Grenvil (Travata) and Kommissarius with Florentine Opera, Milwaukee, Boito’s Mefistofele and Don Basilio at Bob Jones University, Abimelech (Samson and Delila) at Hawaii Opera, Butt the Hoopoe in the world premier of Wourinen’s Haroun and the title role inAriane et Barbe-Bleue at New York City Opera, Colline (Boheme) in Chattanooga, Indiana Elliot’s Brother (Mother of Us All) with the San Francisco Opera, Hale (The Crucible) at Chautauqua Opera, and King Zuoxian in the world premier of Wenji in New York, and Hong Kong, a role for which the New York Times praised his “booming basso.” At Carnegie Hall he has sung Mozart’s Requiem and Vesperae Solennes, Handel’s Messiah, Haydn’s Theresienmesse, and the premiere of Rittenhouse’s Vision of the Apolcalypse, which he sang on tour throughout South Africa. A graduate of Harvard College, and winner of the Schorr Prize (Connecticut), Excellence in Arts Competition (Philadelphia), and Sembrich Competition (New York), he began his vocal training with Franco Corelli and is a long time student of Armen Boyajian.